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148:, England. From about 1300 AD part of the wood was the scene of coal mining, which continued until around 1800. The traces of mining have been well preserved, and are now a scheduled site. The woodland is now part of the Harridge Woods Nature Reserve. Large areas were planted for timber in the mid-20th century, and this continues to be harvested. The nature reserve is steadily reintroducing the original flora.
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190:, where they dug a shaft down to the coal, then excavated as wide an area round the foot of the shaft as was safe, giving it a bell shape. They then moved to a nearby location and repeated the process, spacing the shafts close enough to minimise wastage. 52 bell pits have been found in Harridge Wood East, the largest with a diameter of 25 metres (82 ft).
161:(known as "stoggles") of ash, pedunculate oak and alder. There are diverse woodland flora in the less disturbed areas, including ferns in the wetter parts and woodland herbs in the dryer areas. In some places there are cow pastures beside the woods, which attract foraging bats, while other bats forage along the woods and streams.
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The
Harridge Wood mainly lies on clay slopes dissected by streams. It is thought to be very old, although large areas of the original broadleaf coverage was cleared in the mid-20th century and replaced by poplars and conifers. Remnants of the early forest are found in isolated patches, on the edge
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In
Harridge Wood and Edford Wood the coal seams outcrop at the surface and there are many remains of pre-18th century mining. The medieval and post-medieval coal mining remains in Harridge Wood and Edford Wood South were made a 16 hectares (40 acres) scheduled site under the Ancient Monuments and
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in the Mendip district of
Somerset. The coal mining workings are examples of medieval and post-medieval coal mining that have been very well preserved by being incorporated in the woodland. They show a variety of mining methods employed before the 19th century.
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that carried water to power machinery or drained water. There are mounds of excavated material and the remains of shafts. The coal field was active from around 1300 to 1800, although some small working continued longer.
224:. The nature reserve includes five sites: Home Wood, Limekiln Wood, Harridge Woods West, Harrdidge Woods East and Edford Woods South. There are two nature trails with stops where points of interest are described. The
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runs through the western part of the reserve. The woods are a managed woodland, and lumber is extracted. The
Cerberus Spelæological Society controls all cave and archaeological related activity in the reserve.
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Archaeological Areas Act 1979 as of 17 May 2000. The site includes Edford Wood South, all of
Harridge Wood East and part of Harridge Wood West. The site covers parts of the parishes of
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have also been found, horizontal passages for accessing the mines or draining waters, and
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Medieval and post-medieval coal mining remains in
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The 55 hectares (140 acres) Harridge Woods nature reserve is owned and operated by
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of the woodland and in wet areas. These include areas of old hazel coppice and low
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A dilapidated cottage has been restored as a bat house. Bats include
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Logs waiting collection near the entrance to the nature reserve
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Medieval and post-medieval coal mining ... Historic
England
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Biodiversity of
Eastern Mendip – Sub-site: Harridge Wood
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Harridge Woods Nature
Reserve – Somerset Wildlife Trust
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186:In the early days miners excavated the coal using
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569:Harridge Wood Area Nature Reserves – Cerberus
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299:). Other plant species include bluebell (
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513:Biodiversity of Eastern Mendip – BGS
659:Harridge Wood Area Nature Reserves
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736:Forests and woodlands of Somerset
237:Trees include various species of
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696:, BGS: British Geological Survey
662:, Cerberus Spelæological Society
602:, BGS: British Geological Survey
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639:Harridge Woods Nature Reserve
525:The Nettlebridge valley – BGS
329:), nettle-leaved bellflower (
281:). Fungi include fly agaric (
741:Nature reserves in Somerset
497:) butterflies may be seen.
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216:Path through Harridge Wood
144:is an area of woodland in
455:European green woodpecker
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387:Rhinolophus ferrumequinum
302:Hyacinthoides non-scripta
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463:silver-washed fritillary
419:Muscardinus avellanarius
395:Rhinolophus hipposideros
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693:The Nettlebridge valley
644:Somerset Wildlife Trust
624:Somerset Wildlife Trust
338:Polygonatum multiflorum
314:Asplenium scolopendrium
311:), hart's tongue fern (
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222:Somerset Wildlife Trust
134:Somerset Wildlife Trust
115:55 hectares (140 acres)
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96:51.231604°N 2.501780°W
723:at Wikimedia Commons
616:Harridge Woods Leafet
479:white-throated dipper
383:greater horseshoe bat
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180:Stratton-on-the-Fosse
391:lesser horseshoe bat
375:brown long-eared bat
332:Campanula trachelium
296:Sarcoscypha coccinea
290:Daldinia concentrica
259:), pedunculate oak (
101:51.231604; -2.501780
435:Apodemus sylvaticus
427:Capreolus capreolus
335:), Solomon's seal (
326:Colchicum autumnale
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746:Mining in Somerset
679:, Historic England
447:Eurasian bullfinch
362:Lamium galeobdolon
344:Lathraea squamaria
274:Euonymus europaeus
253:), Norway Spruce (
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719:Media related to
494:Gonepteryx rhamni
488:Polygonia c-album
475:Turdus philomelos
451:Pyrrhula pyrrhula
439:common kingfisher
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411:Meles meles
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256:Picea abies
226:Mells River
152:Environment
120:Designation
99: /
75:Coordinates
730:Categories
431:wood mouse
247:), hazel (
84:51°13′54″N
700:22 August
683:22 August
666:22 August
649:22 August
629:22 August
606:22 August
188:bell pits
87:2°30′06″W
423:roe deer
208:Location
159:pollards
146:Somerset
68:Radstock
590:Sources
241:, ash (
172:Ashwick
477:) and
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620:(PDF)
501:Notes
369:Fauna
239:alder
233:Flora
196:leats
192:Adits
702:2016
685:2016
668:2016
651:2016
631:2016
608:2016
381:),
178:and
112:Area
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Text is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike License. Additional terms may apply.
